Preview

Martin Luther King's Use Of Metaphors In Jail

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
416 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Martin Luther King's Use Of Metaphors In Jail
Jail is like a dungeon enclosing those who have bypassed the common law.
Martin Luther King Junior got put in jail for peaceful protesting to get everyone equal rights. While King was in jail, he wrote a letter to the church explaining why everyone should be treated equally, no matter their skin color. King uses metaphors and rhetorical questions to influence and inspire his readers, to stop segregation; it is unfair to treat people differently just because of their skin color.
Throughout the letter King utilizes metaphors to influence his readers. Go back 55 years to the 1960’s, everything was segregated from restaurants, to water fountains. African American people were tired of being brushed aside “I guess it is easy for those who have never
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Metaphors In Letter From Birmingham Jail
    • 229 Words
    • 1 Page

    Metaphors In Letter From Birmingham Jail

    Throughout Letter From Birmingham Jail, King uses several metaphors to describe the harmful effects of inequity and motivate his followers to work towards “transforming the] pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.” For example, to promote immediate action, King proclaims that “now is the time to lift national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice.” By placing the abstract consequences of discrimination next to the perceivable discomfort of being stuck in quicksand, King helps his readers understand the severe ramifications of injustice. More importantly, the harmful outcomes that King described motivate his readers to take action in order to soothe the wounds of their neighbors and fellow citizens.…

    • 229 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis: Letter From Birmingham Jail
    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis: Letter From Birmingham Jail

    These are one of the most powerful words this letter has to offer, he emphasizes what a negroe has to suffer day by day. King mentions this to make the clergymen see what it feels like to be segregated, to make them see how unjust it…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    An Analysis Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail
    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages

    An Analysis Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail

    In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” from jail in Birmingham, Alabama in response to a public statement issued by eight white clergyman calling his actions “ unwise and untimely”. African Americans have been waiting to have there civil rights of freedom, but the social courts has requested them not protest on the street but to take it to court. Dr. King wrote, “This wait has almost always meant never.” This is why Dr. king addresses this matter in a letter about the battle of segregation. He hopes that this letter will stop this injustice matter, and show what the African American desire. Furthermore, Dr. King had four steps to achieve his goals by collecting facts, negotiation, self-purification, and direct…

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tim Wise White Like Me Analysis
    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Tim Wise White Like Me Analysis

    Letter from Birmingham Jail details how and why MLK is in jail in Birmingham. Dr. King was unjustly jailed for leading a protest without a parade permit. This was infringing on his first amendment rights to peacefully protest, the actual reason was to stop their movement and continue segregation. Martin Luther King believed that he had a duty to be at Birmingham, because “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” He did not feel like he did not belong because he says that nobody can be an outsider as long as you’re within your country’s bounds. He was protesting the unjust laws, that he saw morally wrong because it degraded them as humans and was not harmonious with moral laws. Their equality had to be requested in the form of civil disobedience “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor.” Such as the Boston Tea Party was an act of civil…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    An Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail
    • 1896 Words
    • 8 Pages

    An Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

    “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther king is a response letter written to the eight clergyman who had criticized King for the method of protest he uses. King was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama in April 1963 and wrote the letter in his small cell after reading a newspaper in which the clergyman had themselves published criticize king’s method of protesting since he was not from the state of Alabama. King replies to the clergymen and call them “men of genuine good will”, to show his peaceful manner. The clergy man feel that king is not and should not interfere with what is happening in the south. King however, answers them by arguing why African Americans in Birmingham will and should participate in the movement, famously quoting that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (233). He explains that he doesn’t need to be from…

    • 1896 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mlk Letter To Birmingham Jail Analysis
    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Mlk Letter To Birmingham Jail Analysis

    Martin Luther King Jr. is known for his nonviolent approach to gain freedom for the African American community. He gained much respect and has become a figure to appreciate. At a time of so much oppression, he refused to abide by the Whites and wanted to abide by both Whites and Blacks. In his famous letter at Birmingham Jail, he addresses the topic of acting now and acting with the full support of everyone. In this way he is similar to Malcolm X who also wanted the Africans to stand up against the oppressors.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tim Wise's Argument Analysis
    • 1671 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Tim Wise's Argument Analysis

    wrote a letter that advocated for equality in a non-violent way. His huge involvement with the Civil Rights movement made his letter explode, although this was the reason he was even in jail. The extreme racism still occurring bothered Martin Luther King JR. especially because it was such a big problem in Birmingham. He goes on to state the reason he was in jail was because of the injustice located in Birmingham. There are four steps to achieve a non-violent campaign. Through these steps promoting your cause can be successful but still have been done in a peaceful way. He goes on to talk about how denying someone the right to vote is ridiculous. Later he talks about how law can seem just until its application, he'd been previously been charged with parading with out a permit, even though it was peaceful. The whole idea of fighting for equality in a peaceful way was one of the many reasons MLK was so highly…

    • 1671 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Rhetorical Field Of Religion In Martin Luther King's Letter
    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Rhetorical Field Of Religion In Martin Luther King's Letter

    The very beginning of the letter addresses it to his "dear Fellow Clergymen" (263). This sets the tone for the passage, and King knows that if it's too brash and ugly, the letter wont be spared a second glance. Instead, he makes the salutation calm and welcoming. This way, the clergymen are more likely to read ahead than throw it in the trash. Further through the text, King manages to spin a strong argument while keeping in mind that his target audience might not be as simple as the clergymen. He is the leader of a revolution and knows it, so he keeps in mind that his letter might reach out to not only the other people in the nineteen fifties, but people throughout time. He presents this by using terms and circumstances that would be relatable in his time and any future audiences. One paragraph in particular utilizes empathy by painting a gruesome picture, telling tales of how blacks were subjected to "mobs lynch your mothers and fathers...policemen curse, kick, brutalize and even kill your black brothers and sisters" (267). Any person at any given time would openly cringe at the images that are imagined upon reading his examples, and King uses that to his advantage. In the same paragraph, King uses another universal understanding to his aid. Children are a sweet innocent figure that everyone in the world recognizes and cherishes. King begs the audience to see how corrupted the society he's living…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail
    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail

    In April of 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed for a non-violent campaign of marches and sit-ins which had been organized to end racism and segregation in Alabama. While incarcerated a newspaper was smuggled in. This newspaper contained a statement made by various white clergy men of Alabama. Motivated, King responded to the clergy men with the now famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In this letter King argues against segregation laws using the tenets of…

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech
    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

    King calls upon the African American with phrases like, “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred” to emphasize the fact that he understands how simple it is to be filled with “bitterness” and “hatred.” Also, he doesn’t want others to suffer from hatred and be sucked in with the non-supporters of the civil rights. Another viewpoint is he doesn’t want people to take the shorter road out to get freedom. He wants both blacks and whites to be able to hold hands together and greet each other without malevolence and…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter To Birmingham Jail
    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter To Birmingham Jail

    King writes about mothers and father being lynched by mobs and brother and sister being drowned. Policemen doing anything from beating to killing the Negros. King even takes the letter to a more personal level and begins to write about his own family. King explains how he has found himself without words to try and explain to his young daughter why she cannot go to a theme park that is being advertised and continues to write how his daughter was heartbroken, King also writes how the children begin to question why the white people are so mean to the colored people. King uses all those examples and emotions to get to the reader to a more personal and accomplishes by having the reader feel what he feels.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr.: An Inspirational Leader
    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Martin Luther King Jr.: An Inspirational Leader

    was an inspiration to the world. Because of his tireless work, all Americans, regardless of their skin color, share many of the same freedoms. They can use the same restrooms, eat in the same restaurants, ride in any seat they want on a bus or train, and they can obtain the same jobs as whites. He also helped people realize that blacks and whites can work in government together, and women can have any job they want. Black women are not forced to be maids and work for whites, they can work for anyone they want. Blacks can also live anywhere they want. They are not forced to live in small tenements or shanties. Blacks can earn equal wages as well. They can make as much money as they want. Black children can also go to school with white children. There are no white only or black only schools; children are no longer segregated by race. Martin Luther King, Jr. influenced the society to make a peaceful and equal…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Martin Luther King, Jr. a civil rights activist that fought for the rights of African Americans in 1963. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. While in jail, King received a letter from eight Alabama clergyman explaining their concern and opposition to King and his non-violent actions. This letter occasioned his reply and caused King to write a persuasive letter "Letter from Birmingham Jail," justifying his actions and presence in Birmingham. Although King’s reply was addressed to the Alabama clergyman, its target audience was the white people. King understood that if he gained support from the white American, the civil rights movement would reach its goals much faster. In his letter King effectively manipulates language and tone to strengthen his argument against the complaints of the clergyman and successfully address the white people. Throughout the essay, King uses several powerful tones to complement his strong opinion…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Famous Thinkers
    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Famous Thinkers

    During the time that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to fight the great fight of segregation he was also arrested may times. The arrests were because of not have a permit to demonstrate. Even with these obstacles he was able to continue with his fight for freedom. He overcame these obstacles by being resourceful and learning what he needed to do in order to continue on with his hard work that he had been putting in for the rights and freedom of the people. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s., goal was for freedom for the people to have a right to…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Civil Rights Movement Research Paper
    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Civil Rights Movement Research Paper

    Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as a pivotal leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King was an advocate for civil disobedience and peaceful protest. In 1963, following his arrest during a protest in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” where various sources of oppression were described along with how to combat such oppression. In the letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. explained promises made to the African Community for equality that were never met. As a result of the broken promises, Dr. King called for pressure to be put on the authority figures who instigated such oppression. Dr. King described the pressure as a “direct action” and that the pressure would force negotiation to occur. Negative emotions were in the African American Community. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that these emotions could manifest themselves a violence, if not expressed. However, Dr. King warned against acts of violence to achieve the desired end of equality. In the letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. revealed to white leaders the racism faced by African Americans and the difficulties faced by the children of this…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More